Friday, December 28, 2012

Les Misérables

Les Misérables is a show encircling the French revolution, or to put it bluntly, a bunch of poor people fighting for their rights. This star studded film, derived from the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo, is one of the hugely anticipated Christmas blockbuster of 2012.Remember the one year when Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman hosted the Academy Awards and they both sang? I think that one episode probably fueled this collaboration. Tom Hooper is a newbie to directing a musical, and this is an earnest effort in my opinion.Anne Hathaway's rendition of "I Dream a Dream" was deemed almost perfect in my opinion. There was a lot of emotions going on and was a subtle performance despite her short screen time. She even shaved her head for the role, which shows her passion for the film.Hugh Jackman on the other hand, sounded a bit awkward, especially when he tried to hit the high notes. He is better off as Wolverine in X-Men. Still, i think he should be commended for his effort since this is his virgin attempt at it.The cinematography for the film is gorgeous. There has clearly been much thoughts put into the costume designs and sets. The 19th century feel of the film is well demonstrated and very detailed.However, if solely listening to music (with a bit of dialogue of course) for a whole two hours and a half hour is something you wouldn't be able to tolerate, this show isn't for you. Despite the log running time, the film manages to capture your attention throughout with the exciting storyline. However I'd prefer if the film had slightly more time for dialogues and then bursting out into songs though - a two and a half hour long musical can get a little tedious and ironically monotonous.If you are big fan of Anne Hathaway or a music fanatic, go for it. And if your definition of a movie is something like James Bond or Jackie Chan, i suggest you give this a miss. Anne Hathaway as a nominee for the Oscars next year? I certainly hope so.